UNITED TAKE REVENGE

 

The FA Cup. The oldest football competition in the world and one that every football fan in England feels a part of. Last time around, United got as far as the semi finals, before losing 1-0 to Man City at Wembley, with the Reds finishing the match with ten men. The last time we made the final was back in '07, which we lost 1-0 at Wembley after extra time with the Blues getting their winner very late on after neither side really got the edge in normal time. For the last time we won the competition you have to go what seems to be a long way back, back to '04 when we beat Millwall who played in what was then known as the First Division, beating them 3-0 at the Millenium Stadium with me watching as a student living in Teddington with Cristiano Ronaldo opening the scoring and Ruud van Nistelrooy grabbing the other two.

Last time around, we faced Liverpool in an all-Premiership tie at Old Trafford in the 3rd round. Giggsy opened the scoring with an early penalty that I have to admit was the result of a dive and the Scousers then went down to ten men so from then onwards it was our game to lose. The Scousers had their uses early in the second half but that was really nothing we couldn't handle and in the latter stages of the match we simply slipped into cruise mode to secure our spot in the next round. Given that this had seemed to be a very tough tie for us, particularly so early in the competition, it just felt great to win it and unlike the previous season, have a decent Cup run.

This time round, we were up against Man City. The last time we faced the Blues in the FA Cup was of course that semi final last season where of course we lost 1-0 with City getting a second half winner, something that gave the Blues bragging rights over us for a while. For the last time we beat City in the Cup, you have to go back to the 03/04 season when we faced the Blues in the 5th round and beat them 4-2 at Old Trafford, with van Nistelrooy getting to of the goals and Ronaldo another. Overall, United have a very good record against the Blues in the Cup, helped by the fact that traditionally the Reds have been the stronger of the two Manchester sides.

Fast forward to the present day and well, it couldn't get much harder than this. Not only an all-Premiership tie but the league leaders and a team that had already caned us in the Premiership this season with the Reds already out of the Champions League and Carling Cup and not on great Premiership form, not a good time for an FA Cup 3rd round match at the Etihad Stadium. Still, there was a good omen going into this match. Paul Scholes, scorer of our opener in the '04 match and general United legend had been persuaded out of retirement, but he wasn't to start this match. Smalling started at right back, Valencia right mid, Rooney and Wellbeck up front.

United had do deal with some trouble in the opening minutes but in the 10th minute Wayne became the scorer of our first goal of 2012, set up by Valencia before heading home. Not long after that City went down to ten men. City had no reason or inclination to lie down but the Reds were more than happy to rely on counter-attacks and in the 30th minute Nani found Evra who crossed to Wellbeck and United were two up. Then the Reds were given a 40th minute penalty. Wayne wasn't able to slot it first time around but headed in the rebound and by half time United looked as though payback was going to be assured - this was pretty much a perfect display!

City weren't going to lie down though. In the 48th minute Alexander Kolorov fired in a scorcher of a free kick and the first signs of a comeback appeared. In the 65th minute James Milner then crossed to Sergio Agurro who put the ball in the net at the second time of asking. By that point a legend had already come off the bench for United but the start of that comeback proved to be relatively low key for now. Still, if he regains his old form before the end of the season we'll have done well. In the meantime City looked for an equaliser but our defence proved stubborn enough to hold them off. City, the reigning FA Cup winners on top of everything else, have been booted early doors. United have found their form again.

Elsewhere, other all-Premiership ties included Newcastle beating Blackburn 2-1 at the Sports Direct Arena. Rovers were leading at half time but again their defence failed them and the Magpies pulled off a late turnaround. Mugs of the round were Wigan, beaten 2-1 by L2 Swindon at the County Ground. The Premiership side opened the scoring but the lower leaguers, now managed by Paulo di Canio, equalised before half time and got a second half winner. That leaves seventeen Premiership teams left standing in the competition and so far the underdogs have not had much effect of the competition. There's still a long way to go though.

Now though, the draw for the 4th round has been made and someone up there is clearly determined to make things interesting for United as we have another all-Premiership match against a major rival to deal with, this time Liverpool at Anfield. A rematch of various ties over the years, the '96 final particularly comes to mind. This will be another tough one for United but still, this is not a vintage era for Liverpool and even on their turf they are certainly beatable. Still, Liverpool are well capable of caning us on their patch. However United should hopefully have the edge over Kenny Dalgleish's side and should make it through to the next round.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced SD2 Forfar in the Scottish Cup 4th round at Station Park. Vernon opened the scoring for the Dons in the first half with Chalali making it two with his second goal in two matches before the break. The home side occasionally had their uses in this encounter but couldn't stop Fallon from making it three for the Reds and after that they were pretty much running on empty and Mitchell Megginson got his first goal for the Dons before the end. A very smooth effort from the Reds against lower league opposition for once and Craig Brown will be hoping that that is something of a good omen for a Cup run.

(Image taken from Sky Sports)

All 12 SPL sides managed to reach the fifth round draw at least and that draw has been made. For Aberdeen it means a match against SD1 Queen of the South at Pittodrie. On paper this is a pretty straightforward tie. QOTS are bottom of their division and have no high profile players. Yet despite the dismantling of lower league opposition in the previous round this is precisely the kind of tie where the Dons have slipped up in the last few years even on home turf. The Dons can't take this one for granted. Yet the safe bet still says that the Dons will do the business on home turf. Maybe Craig Brown's crew have actually got the fuel for a Cup run on this occasion.

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